Thanks to Detroit News for this:
Detroit — More than 100 people eager to learn more about a proposed restoration plan for Detroit’s century-old Belle Isle Boathouse flocked to a meeting on the island with many hopeful it moves forward.
The Belle Isle Advisory Committee scheduled a recent special session at Belle Isle’s Flynn Pavilion to elicit feedback from the public.
Bloomfield Hills developer David Carleton and his partners presented their development plan − which includes restoring the building and adding restaurants − to the public and answered questions.
Many Detroiters who attended welcomed the proposed rehabilitation.
For Bill Maher, the boathouse is special. The 79-year-old won a bronze medal in the 1968 Olympic Games, and grew up rowing at Belle Isle.
Two bids were submitted in late July to restore the boathouse, which the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has deemed structurally unsound. State officials wanted to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to tear down the structure, but switched gears and agreed to seek bids to restore it after a public survey found people wanted it saved.
As of Thursday, the $2 million in ARPA funds that had been earmarked to demo the boathouse were reallocated to other projects on the island, said Tom Bissett, the DNR’s urban district supervisor with the parks and recreation division. The DNR manages the park with input from the seven-member advisory committee.
“As of today I had to submit a finalized list to the state budget office for ARPA dollars,” Bissett said. “Every single dollar for ARPA had to be allocated by the end of business today. So without an agreement, without a plan, that $2 million has to be spent on another project on the island, which it will be.”
Carleton’s bid, which state natural resources officials selected to move forward, includes restoring the 40,000-square-foot Venetian style building to include two year-round restaurants, a public marina with room for 100 boats and an ice cream shop.
The project would also fill in the boathouse pools to make space for year-round recreational programming and restore the ballroom to an event space available for rent, Carleton said. Most importantly it would continue to serve as a home to the city’s sailing and rowing clubs, he explained.
Further down the line Carleton envisions shuttles taking visitors around the island to the boathouse, beach, conservancy, and aquarium, or even water taxis shuttling people from places such as Hart Plaza to Belle Isle.
“This could be a true gateway, whether you come to the island and start there, have lunch, then make your way over the aquarium, whether you spend a day at the beach,” Carleton said.
The project is expected to cost between $35 million and $40 million and stabilization would be the immediate priority, Carleton said. Replacing the roof and stabilizing the exterior of the boathouse would cost between $2 million and $3 million, he estimated.
The project would need a mix of private and public financing, and Carleton would create a nonprofit organization to accept donations and apply for environmental and historical grant funding.
The DNR will continue meeting with Carleton and his team to discuss the proposal, Bissett said.
Updates will be presented at every park advisory committee monthly meeting starting Nov. 21.
List of Belle Isle Park Advisory Committee meetings
